An adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was shot dead in Gaza City by unknown gunmen early on Tuesday.

Khalil al-Zebin, 59, a veteran journalist who ran a Palestinian Authority-funded magazine and advised Arafat on human rights and media issues, was hit by 12 bullets and seriously wounded shortly after midnight outside his office.

Al-Zebin died soon after arriving at Gaza's Shifa Hospital, hospital sources said.

Al-Zebin, a long-time Arafat loyalist, published a weekly magazine devoted to Palestinian affairs and human rights.

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2004)